Darcy Burner feted by “Bill in Portland Maine”

Launching her third bid for Congress, Darcy Burner has used a national web site to deliver a pretty clear message to voters in what will be Washington’s redrawn 1st District: I will use you to pursue my national agenda.

Burner, a Democrat, was lionized on Friday evening in the “Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Coke FRIDAY” column on the liberal dailykos. com web site. She did a puff interview with column author, “Bill in Portland, Maine.”

“Darcy’s resume makes my head spin,” adds Bill, talking about a candidate who ran into resume-padding trouble in 2008.

He asked Burner why she declared in the 1st District, instead of mounting a third challenge to 8th District Republican Rep. Dave Reichert. Burner replied that redistricting will likely remove Democratic areas from the 8th District and put them into the 1st.

No matter that three Democratic legislators, a former legislator and two civic and party activists are already running. It’s all about Burner, who sees an easier road to Capitol Hill, saying:

“So, instead of running against a Republican in a Republican district, I get to run for an open seat in a Democratic district. Yay, redistricting — I think this will be way more fun.”

Based a continent away, Bill can’t help but wonder: “What are the concerns of the folks who live there?”

Burner, a former Microsoft manager, doesn’t mention Washington state and district issues, no technology or trade or intellectual piracy. Instead, she sticks with national liberal platitudes.

“The biggest issues on the minds of the folks who live here are how we make our country work again,” said Burner. She said the “folks” in the 1st District want somebody who will “fight” against the forces of wealth and privilege.

Bill spotlights Burner’s status as a former board member of NARAL Pro-Choice America. In return, Burner makes an extraordinary proposal for educating Congress on a person’s right to control his/her body.

“I’m tempted to start a mandatory organ donor registry for all members of Congress,” she said. “If it turns out that by donating one of his kidneys (House Majority Leader) Eric Cantor can save a life, he should be required by law to do so.”

“After all, the risk is small to him, and it’s only in convenience, and it would save a life that would otherwise be lost, right? Then I’ll feel like he has a real understanding of why the right of every person to control their own body matters.”

The adoring Bill serves up another softball: “What kind of music makes you feel invincible to the GOP horde?”

“I have a playlist on my phone called ‘Triumph’ which includes Mannheim Steamroller’s The Third Door, Aaron Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, the third movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and a handful of other songs which put me in a proper fighting mood,” Burner replied.

Burner channels Howard Dean in talking about her latest run for the House: “This is a seat we can win with people-powered politics and one that should send someone to D.C. who represents the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.”

Burner always seemed more of a Seattle candidate than an Eastside candidate during her 2006 and 2008 runs for Congress. She eagerly offered to cross the lake for interviews.

Now, after a stint in D.C. with the Progressive Congress Action Fund, she seems eager to be a liberal battler in the “other” Washington. If the fawning of Bill is any indication, people from outside the 1st District are a key to propelling her there.

The “Kossacks” — readers of dailykos.com — contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars from across the country to Burner’s two previous House campaigns — showing particular generosity after her house burned down.

Will they come through again. Burner – who has never held public office — is moving in on a race featuring candidates who have served in the Legislature and worked in communities of the (anticipated) 1st District.

The “Cheers and Jeers” interview raises a question: Is the 1st District simply Burner’s vehicle to the national stage?

UPDATE: Dailykos.com has posted another fawning Darcy puff piece on Sunday night. Will readers get one every 48 hours?